Housing Bubble, credit bubble, public planning, land use, zoning and transportation in the exurban environment. Specific criticism of smart growth, neotradtional, forms based, new urbanism and other top down planner schemes to increase urban extent and density. Ventura County, California specific examples.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A "Washington Monument Play" is when government punishes the populace by denying a popular service in order to extort money for unpopular costs. We start this ongoing series with the great State of Arizona

Arizona decides to close most state parksFacing a multibillion-dollar shortfall, the state will shut 13 parks by June, including the Tombstone Courthouse and Yuma Territorial Prison. Several had already been closed.

January 16, 2010|By Nicole Santa CruzWrestling with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, Arizona decided Friday to close nearly all of its state parks, including the famed Tombstone Courthouse and Yuma Territorial Prison.The State Parks Board unanimously voted to close 13 parks by June 3. Eight others had already been closed, and the decision would leave nine open -- but only if the board can raise $3 million this year.The action represents the largest closure of state parks in the nation, although several other states are considering similar moves."It's a dark day for the Arizona state parks system," said Renee Bahl, the system's executive director."We have 65,000 acres around the state and the majority of them are closing."The Arizona parks receive about 2.3 million visitors per year who bring about $266 million into the state, Bahl said.

Got that math? $3m is "saved" to help close a multi-billion dollar deficit. That $3m apparently generates 80x in economic ripples. There's no way this is about saving money.

California High Speed Rail died recently and no one noticed. The CAHSR authority finally made the first of a long series of confessions that the service will be less and price higher than was sold to the voters 18 months ago in a narrow bond approval vote.

The new plan calls for a one-way charge of $105, about 83 percent of the $125 the rail authority predicts airfares will run in 2035. That near-doubling of prospective fares from the 2008 $55 would reduce expected ridership by almost one-third.

Prices up, ridership down. Quelle surprise.

But don't be discouraged. There's a new blog out there where CAHSR is not only alive but so perfect only apostates can dare deny its beauty: CAHSRblog.com

If it weren't my money the whole debacle would be sad. As it is it is a travesty.

The updated cost estimate for the San Francisco‐to‐Anaheim initial high‐speed rail system is $42.6 billion [pdf file] in year‐of‐expenditure dollars.

Not. Fed funding will never exceed the $9b State contribution and private funding to date has been zero. There's no reason for private interests to fund HSR. It has no commercial value. And the "local funding" is just a joke. Bakersfield is not going to invoke Eminient Domain to cover CAHSRs accounting ass.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

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I especially liked Hotlips WaMulihan in the scene where she does Major Burnstheinvestors.Romancing the BlackstoneStanford & SonA Default Grows in Harlem.The Stanfords Skull and BonusThree Loans for Sister SarahLast House LeftThe Legend of Beggar VanceBend It Like BernankeBen & Timmay's Excellent MisadventureBuffy The Squid Slayerbuffet fraudCheaper by The Dozen TrillionClose Encounters of The Third TrancheCitizen Pain - who can forget that classic tale?Dirty BennyBuffy The Squid SlayerThe Money Pit Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels Bonfires of the VainitiesEasy WritersNightstand CowboyClose Encounters of The Third Tranche Final DebtstaNationThe International (no title change necessary!)TakenGone With The Win2010: The Year We Break ContractWhen Benny met Timmy?Home: A LoanRoutesA Debtors' LineThe Dark PoolThe Debt PoolDebt Men Don't Wear Plaidfor pav: Debt Poets SocietydebtsturbiaHock HollywoodEight Squid Heads in a Duffle BagEternal Obligation of the Spotless FICOManagement on Fire, starring Denzel Washington DC19 Men on a Debtman's Chest, yo ho hoDeja VuHe Knows You Need A LoanLive Free or Die PennylessThe Perfect Storm (no changes necessary) Pirates of the Carribean (no changes necessary) Flatliners (no changes necessary)Apocalypse NowA-liensThe Incredible Hulk - a tale of seethrough megatowersApocalypse on Credit - The SequelWallets Wide ShutFantasia 2010Ferris Beuller's Pay OffForrest Pump and DumpFour Mortgages and a JubileeFunds and Fancy FreeGlodzillaA-liensWiped Out Men Can't Jump SnatchMy Big Fat Greek RiotThe Day the Earth Paid BillsThrow in two others and you'd have The Magnificent SevenFlight ClubCharlotte's Web (tale of a spider and a )Schiller's List St. Elmo's FIRE The Puppets Take ManhattanThe F/C FilesCon-HeirThrow in two others and you have The Malignant SevenOffice SpaceCREmatoriumThe Good, The Bad, & The Fugly?Squirrel InteruptedGlods and MonstersThe Glods Must be CrazyGood Bills HuntingGroundhog DecadeAll Go To Heaven The Whetherman Miss MBS March The Great White HypeLadies and Gentlemen, the Retail Bones!Logan's Loan RunThe Day the Loans Stood StillM.B.S.Saving Private BuyingE for Endebtedness Dial M For More Flash-Trading Gordon Clash of the Banking Titans The HangoverThe Day the Loans Stood StillDeliveranceBando BrothersLand of the Lost WagesFannieNightmare on K Streetreserved hogsDead Bank WalkingThe Loan King Dead Beat Plan of the Caved Bair Masters of the Universe (no change needed) Minority Deport Sachs and the CitiDistrict 8 Crash The Bad News BearsWeekend at BenniesGrowing PainsWeakened @ Bennie'sRomancing The SachsThe Last Par FighterCDS: Fatal AfflictionEscape from Needless Markup The Revenge of the Mannequins.Expatriate Games Fatal Redactionup in the smokeThe Gain MutinyThrow MBS from the TrainA bridge to....a bridgeA Bridgeloan Too FarTo HELOC & BackBond, FIRE and VanitiesFIREstopperLoan Terminator(old TV show) The Loan ArrangerThe Bridge Loan over the River SideBridges of Mason Country Crash of the Titans Axe-Men Violence of the LambsThe Chuck Prince DiariesNational DispleasureNo bridge to farVATman2010: A Treasury OddityRun Silent, Run Deep LossesbANK fAILURE (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 1/2/2010 - 1:07 pmThe China Sin-Drone Yu Gots Males Arabian BlightsMeet Joe SixpackThe Unshining ...starring Jack Nicholson as Alan Greenspend.Atlantic CitiDevil wears goodwillThe Loan BugAndduetome StrainThe Longest YarnStar Whores: The Empire Likes Crack Star Whores: Reburn of the JunkieCashless In SeattleMerry Pop PinsStar Whores: The Phantom CeilingThe Clowns of Musicand of course: Star Whores: The Revenge of the SquidCzardoughsFast Times at 30 BroadDid You Hear About The Benjamins?Obama: A Nude Hope?Ace Ventura, FED DetectiveGS:Meet the FuckersRaiders of the Last ParkStar Whores:Return of the TarpGunfight at the GS CorralAll Quiet On The Eastern FrontCool hand MackLoan MisérablesThe Rapes of GraftPromotion's ElevenResistanceIsFeudal (profile) wrote on Sat, 1/2/2010 - 1:24 pmCiti Slackers Orifice SpaceWhore A Few Dollars More Ben HurtAmerican Flipstory EssexBlankfein's MonsterET(gs): the evaded taxPigmen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - by AlmostdoverHex on the CitiThe Loan and ITransformers:Revenge of the RealwhoresPlanet of the RealtorsWest Slide StoryThe Lord of the FED:The Return of ...nope, returns are negativeMr. Smith Goes to Bankruptcy CourtMutiny of the BountyThe Passion of the One-Eyed Jack-a-Lopes -staring Karl Maldin as Bad-LoanworthDial M for MortgageFinding Nemo!!!!Alan and the FedMonks: The Squeakquel'Invasion of the Money Snatchers'The Lying King: the mozillo storyTo Live and Die in the Beltway.The Write StuffThe Lord of the Blings: The Empty TowersPirates of Lower Manhattan; At Squid IslandA Dutiful Mind The Lying Game Twelve FlunkiesHouseFlipper's New Adventures 2010: The Year we broke the contractBye Bye MoneyRebel Without a ClauseYou Can't Take It With You Unless You're GoldmanChairman DolittleHow to Marry a TrillionaireThe Three Faces of GreedBonus Season: The First SenseThe Bankshank RedemptionSherlock Homes and the Case of the Missing PaymentsComrade Rally Monkey (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 1/2/2010 - 1:35 pmThe Handover: nth to defaultIt's CalifornicatedVillage of the Damned Bankers The Absent Minded Economics ProfessorThe Loan VanishesVoyage to the Bottom of the RecoveryGovernator 3: Eviction DayKashkari:I am LegendPanic in the Year 2010Forget PerrisHush...Hush, Sweet SheilaRe-cast awayThe Crawling Invisible HandThe warren ultimatumThe Nutty Economics ProfessorThe Three Stooges Meet GeithnerHow Green Was My WalletCents and Cents-ability -the making of Lowered ExpectationsCaper-Corn Won -Forex food fights staring transgendered asians, hilarity ensuesThe Mishpocha ManNo Retirement for Old MenNo Country for Young MenFiat: Cultural leanings of a society bent on debt servitude for make glorius benefit of nation of RichistanStar Tranche: First ContractWho Framed Robert Reich?Soylent Green ShootsOh man is dad ever gonna be pissed when he comes back from his hike and sees the mess we left.To Be or Not To Be HomelessThe Last Wagon Out of IEFather's Little Dividend DeferredThe Margin Call of the WildThe Seethrough MenagerieElizabeth Warren: 2 smart, 2 curious I haven't laughed this hard in quite a long time. Suicide hotline without the humor, my skinny white ass.Altar'd Statisticians ScammersKrugman v. KrugmanHoney I shrunk the 401K!*Battering Rams Not IncludedDr. Goldbug and the Bikini MachineThe Slime People That title didn't need any work.Anna and the King of Liar LoansHELOC Down ThereDoctor No LoanThe Net Worth Feestack Silence of the HAMPsFor Whom the Bank TollsPay It Never[alt: Pay It Forever][alt alt: Pain It Forwardization]Around the Drain in Eighty DaysbANK fAILURE (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 1/2/2010 - 1:59 pmSHAME !! -a charming caste of up and coming are delightful in this musical romp through the interworkings of revolving doors. The smoke and mirrors budget is equalled only by the great wall Chindia's big shitpile.The Last American HelocThe Birth of a Nation of DebtorsA Farewell to ARMsThe Phantom of the Stock Market20,000 Loans Under the SeaThe Good, the Bad, and the RegulatorsCitizen ThainCurse of the Voodoo EconomicsHoney, I sold the kidsEvictusAll Squids go to heaven